''Dracula and Son'' (french: Dracula père et fils) is a 1976 French

comedy horror Comedy horror, also known as horror comedy, is a literary genre, literary, television genre, television, and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as able to be categorized under three ty ...

film directed and written by

Édouard Molinaro Édouard Molinaro (13 May 1928 – 7 December 2013) was a French film director and screenwriter. Biography He was born in Bordeaux, Gironde. He is best known for his comedies with Louis de Funès (''Oscar'', ''Hibernatus''), '' My Uncle Benja ...

. The film is about a

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...

father and son.

Christopher Lee Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor and singer. In a long career spanning more than 60 years, Lee often portrayed villains, and appeared as Count Dracula in seven Hammer Horror films, ultimat ...

reprises his role as Count Dracula from the

Hammer Films A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nails into wood, to shape metal (as wi ...

''Dracula'' film series (in total, this was the 9th and final time Lee played the role of Dracula on film).

Plot

With angry villagers driving them away from their castle in

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...

, Count Dracula (Christopher Lee) and his son Ferdinand (Bernard Ménez) head abroad. The Prince of Darkness ends up in

London, England London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

where he becomes a horror movie star exploiting his

status. His son, meanwhile, is ashamed of his roots and ends up a night watchman in

Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

where he falls for Nicole, a French girl. Naturally, tensions arise when father and son are reunited and both take a liking to the same girl.

Cast

as Count Dracula *

Bernard Ménez Bernard Ménez (born 8 August 1944, in Mailly-le-Chateau) is a French actor. He has appeared in more than seventy films since 1969. Selected filmography References External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Menez, Bernard People from Yonne 1944 ...

as Ferdinand Poitevin * Marie-Hélène Breillat as Nicole Clement * Catherine Breillat as Herminie Poitevin * Bernard Alane as Jean *

Jean-Claude Dauphin Jean-Claude Dauphin, born Claude Legrand on March 16, 1948 in Boulogne-Billancourt, is a French actor. Biography He is the son of actor Claude Dauphin and actress Maria Mauban, the grand-son of the poet Maurice Étienne Legrand and nephew hos ...

as Cristéa *

Anna Gael Anna Abigail Thynn, Marchioness of Bath (née Gyarmathy; 27 September 1943 – 17 September 2022), styled as Viscountess Weymouth from 1969 and 1992, also known by her stage name Anna Gaël, was a Hungarian-British actress and war correspondent ...

as Miss Gaylor *

Raymond Bussières Raymond Bussières (3 November 1907 – 29 April 1982) was a French film actor. He appeared in more than 160 films between 1933 and 1982. He was born in Ivry-la-Bataille and died in Paris. He is buried in Marchenoir. He was married to the ac ...

as L'homme âgé à l'ANPE *

Mustapha Dali Mustafa ( ar, مصطفى , Muṣṭafā) is one of the names of Prophet Muhammad, and the name means "chosen, selected, appointed, preferred", used as an Arabic given name and surname. Mustafa is a common name in the Muslim world. Given name Mo ...

as Khaleb *

Xavier Depraz Xavier Depraz, ''né'' Xavier Marcel Delaruelle (22 April 1926 – 18 October 1994) was a French opera singer and actor. Life Born in Albert ( Somme), Depraz was a bass at the Paris Opéra until 1971. He took part in the premieres of operas by ...

as Le majordome *

Marthe Villalonga Marthe Villalonga (born 20 March 1932) is a French actress. She was born in Fort-de-l'Eau, Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capit ...

as The Subway Woman

Release

''Dracula and Son'' was released in France on 15 September 1976. It was released in 1979 in the United States. The American distributor of the film cut many jokes in the film and replaced them with different gags.

Reception

Allmovie AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne. History AllMovie was founded by popular-cult ...

gave the film a rating of two stars out of five, but noted that "this was a very witty film prior to its decimation by an uncaring American distributor. A review in ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...

'' gave a positive review of three stars out of four, noting that the film "actually works because it treats its subject with respect and doesn't degrade it for cheap, campy laughs." while noting that the film has a "poor dubbing job" that made the character Ferdinand Poitevin sound like a cross between

Woody Allen Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...

and

Austin Pendleton Austin Campbell Pendleton (born March 27, 1940) is an American actor, playwright, theatre director, and instructor. He is known as a prolific character actor on the stage and screen who has appeared in films including ''Catch-22'' (1970); '' W ...

Notes

References

* *

External links

* 1970s comedy horror films 1976 films Dracula films French comedy horror films French vampire films Films directed by Édouard Molinaro Films scored by Vladimir Cosma Vampire comedy films 1970s French films {{1970s-France-film-stub